Hidden From Nightmares
by hauntinglament
Summary: Naruto runs away from home after his parents are murdered and the murderers rape him. He ends up going to high school far away where he meets a certain group of friends. Warnings inside.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary**: Naruto runs away from home after his parents are murdered and the murderers rape him. On his own in the world, he ends up going to highschool far away where he meets an interesting group of friends. This summary is probably really bad, but oh well. I was never good at describing things... 

**Warnings**: Dark, AU, highschool fic, implied rape, torture, yaoi, violence, mature themes. Don't like it or can't stomach it, don't read it. Consider yourself warned.

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing (TT)

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In all honesty, I _really_ hate trying to begin things, so I kinda started this fic quickly so as to get to the story itself. I don't much like the very beginning, but once you get through that, hopefully you'll be able to catch up quickly enough to enjoy the rest of it. This is my first attempt at doing something like this (posting stories on the internet for everyone to read and hopefully review). If something doesn't make sense, then I apologize and please tell me so I can fix it or something. Also, criticisms are welcome, but no flames if you can help it, please.

Anyway, here ya go!

The night was just like any other. Dinner was calm and light-hearted with the small family seated on the living room couch watching some random show. The mother would cuddle contentedly into the father's chest. The father would gently tease the 16 year old son about eating the house bare. The son would smile and argue that he was a growing boy and needed the food. After finishing meals, the son would take their dishes to the kitchen, wash and dry them, then put them and any leftover food away.

As Naruto was in the process of drying the dishes this night, however, a crash was suddenly heard coming from the living room. The sound of fighting soon followed. Naruto froze, feeling numb and light-headed, his heart pounding in his chest. His mind momentarily drew a blank. It felt like a dream. He had never even considered the possibility that someone would actually break in and attack them. This was home, a wall against such things. Home was supposed to be safe... A scream from his mother snapped him back into reality. Eyes wide and still feeling numb, Naruto grabbed a nearby kitchen knife and ran towards the sound. Even though the realization of his mortality even at home still sent his head reeling, he would be damned if he didn't do something about it. His mother needed him.

He ran in silently on soft feet and found his mother bound to a chair, but alive and conscious. His father though... Naruto's eyes teared up at the sight of his father, the man's cold, dead eyes piercing right through him. Then, suddenly, he noticed the other four men in the room. They wore black, but didn't hide their faces. The rough looking men were holding guns to his mother, but they hadn't noticed him yet, it seemed. Naruto swallowed hard as the situation hit him. His parents were down and he was against four armed men. But as hopeless as it was, Naruto refused to give up. He clutched the now seemingly useless knife tighter and crouched slightly into a fighting stance... That is, he would have had he not felt the cold cylinder of a gun pressed to the back of his head as a fifth man revealed his presence from the corner behind the boy.

"Drop the knife, kid, or I'll blow your head off."

Naruto froze, and it felt like he couldn't breath. His heart beat furiously in his throat. Obediently, he dropped the weapon and silently cursed his stupidity at just charging in the room without a plan, wondering if he going to die now. The man moved, and suddenly a hand seized his arm and threw him into the wall, in between the door and the large wooden hutch on his right.

And all eyes turned to him.

It was an awkward moment. They all just kept staring. The man that still pointed the gun at him even had the balls to check him out! It felt creepy to have this large, bouncer type guy that had just broken into his home and was aiming a gun at his head to unashamedly start ogling him. The awkwardness passed as one of the others, a pale, snake-like man with yellow eyes suddenly moved towards him. Naruto pressed himself back into the wall, preparing to bolt. He wouldn't make it far, he knew, but still...

The man stopped a few steps away, looking Naruto up and down, taking in his entire appearance, starting with the wild, blond hair, then moving to the large, white shirt that was ripped half off and showing the boy's slim waist- a new fashion for some kids these days. The right sleeve had fallen over the shoulder, almost teasingly. His eyes continued moving downward to the low pants, revealing even more of the waist, but not enough to reveal much more than that. He licked his lips. He was going to enjoy this!

"Well, look what we have here." The voice was raspy, grating on Naruto's nerves. The man suddenly pounced without warning, catching Naruto before the boy could move even a step. A hand clamped down on Naruto's arm and pulled. In mere seconds, Naruto found himself pressed up against the man with only his arms acting as a wall between them. The hand that had pulled him over was now circled about his bare waist, feeling up beneath the shirt. The other hand had grabbed the back of his hair and was forcing him to look into the man's cold, leering eyes.

"Aww, surely you don't want to be leaving us so soon!" He roughly kissed the boy on the mouth. It lasted only a second before the man dragged him into the light. Naruto was terrified by now, shaking uncontrollably. His mother called his name, despairingly, but all he could see was the lustful look in all the men's eyes as he was brought before them.

Once in the light, the man wrapped his arm around Naruto again, but the other hand reached down to grasp his backside. Naruto's eyes grew wide, not quite believing yet. He wanted to scream, but his throat closed up.

The man continued staring at Naruto, but now addressed his mother. "You've got yourself quite a _fine_ looking son here." He ground his hip into Naruto's, revealing to the boy his growing erection. And Naruto blushed. Of all the things he could have done in that moment- slap the man, knee him in the balls, stamp on his foot- and he _blushed_! He could hear laughter from the others, but it wasn't kind. The man chuckled darkly and ran a hand across Naruto's red cheek.

"Oh, you will be one damn good fuck, won't you, boy!" His grip tightened around Naruto's waist as the boy, panicking, renewed his struggling. Chuckling still, the man harshly kissed him again, this time forcing his tongue into Naruto's mouth to caress the boy's tightly clenched teeth. A punch to the boy's stomach opened the wall and the man overtook Naruto's mouth with a wild passion. As Naruto found anger boiling and finally breaking his numbed state, he furiously lashed out with his fists, battling the man's tongue with his own, refusing to be controlled. Faintly, he could hear his mother struggling against her bonds, crying, "Leave my son out of this!" The men silenced her quickly. Naruto's battle was a losing one, he knew. Only seeming to excite the men further, but he couldn't stop. He refused to give in.

One of the others cleared his throat. The one that was currently trying to swallow Naruto's tongue stopped and glanced over, sighing as he said, "Yes, I suppose we should finish our job here first." He shoved Naruto into the hands of the one that had pointed a gun to Naruto's head before. "All right, boys. Time to get our information. Kabuto, if you will." With a sick grin, one of the others, this one with round glasses and light grey hair, stepped towards Naruto's mother, wielding a cruel looking knife. He grabbed the woman's hand and placed the knife to the base of her finger.

"Do you have anything to spill, bitch?"

She spat in his face.

And just as suddenly, the knife cut through. The woman grit her teeth, only allowing a small sound to escape past her lips. Naruto cried out, struggling fiercely against his capture's binding arms.

The interrogation continued, and Naruto's mother was gagged to muffle her screams. But she held out through it all, refusing to say even a word of what they demanded. What seemed like an eternity later, the torture halted.

"We aren't going to get anything out of her, sir." Naruto could see what Kabuto meant, though again, he wished that it was only a nightmare. The woman no longer looked like his mother. He could see the dazed look on her mutilated face from the blood loss, her eyes staring at nothing in particular.

The snake-like man sighed. "Too bad. We'll just have to get our information elsewhere." Then, suddenly, as if struck by a brilliant idea, he smiled cruelly. Turning to Naruto, he motioned that the boy be brought to him.

Naruto struggled a bit as the giant man roughly pulled him over, but he continued to stare at his mother with dead eyes, his tears having dried up long before. The Snake reached under Naruto's chin and forced Naruto to look at him. As the boy's eyes focused on the man, they narrowed, cold and determined to not do whatever the Snake would demand of him. Like his mother...

Then the Snake took out his handgun, peering at it in fascination. "You know," he said casually, "The two main reasons why I lave this weapon would have to be the power it gives me over people and its uncanny ability to end the pitiful existence of pitiful people. Don't you agree?" Naruto continued to stare back with hate filled eyes. Receiving no answer, the man continued. "Perhaps you need a demonstration. Free him."

The one holding Naruto hesitated a moment before complying. Naruto took the opportunity to remove his face from the Snake's hand, then stood still, warily watching the man and the gun he held, wondering what he was playing at. The Snake stepped forward and grabbed Naruto's right wrist. He moved so fast, Naruto hardly had time to even flinch. Suddenly, he felt the cool handle of the gun pressed into his palm and he froze, confused as to why his enemy would give him a weapon. The man then raised Naruto's arm, pulling as he did so to cause Naruto to stumble towards him. In the blink of an eye, Naruto found his back to the Snake's chest, the man's other arm encircling his waist tightly. And then Naruto noticed where the gun was pointed. At his mother.

In that second of comprehension, the Snake wrapped his own hand around Naruto's and the gun. "You've seen how much she has suffered, how much pain she is in. Don't you think it would be a blessing to end that misery?" Naruto remained silent, his hand shaking, his eyes looking despairingly into his mother's dull ones. "End her suffering now, boy. You know it's what she wants. Her lover is dead, and she is in terrible pain; she will probably die soon enough, anyway. Shooting her now will be a mercy."

Naruto could hear the reasoning in his words. It _would_ be a mercy to end his mother's pain. But is that what she wanted? Did he even have a right to determine whether she should die now or later? What if she wanted to live?

Suddenly, a pressure was felt on his hand, forcing his finger down. And the gun fired. Naruto stared, horrified. The pressure from before was forgotten. He would have cried if he had the strength. At least his mother wasn't suffering anymore. The hole in her head had seen to that. But still, the fact remained. He had killed his mother.

He didn't realize when the Snake let him go, didn't feel the gun slip from numb hands, or his legs giving out beneath him, making him fall to his knees. He couldn't look away from the bullet wound in her forehead, couldn't stop from telling himself that it was _his_ fault it was there.

A voice was whispering in his ear. "You killed her, boy. You're a murderer now." For a moment, Naruto thought it was his own conscience that spoke, then he felt the Snake's presence kneeling beside him, whispering cold truths. As the soft voice continued, Naruto could feel the words ring painfully in his mind over and over again. _Murderer. Killer. You killed your dear, beloved mother. She hates you now. They all hate you. Family, friends. They all despise you. Monster. Demon. Worthless **thing**..._

A memory arose. His mother. She was smiling. At _him_.

The cold words continued, but Naruto denied them. He shook his head. "No." His voice was hoarse, as if he had been screaming for days. "No. They still love me. They will always love me." Then, painful hands were dragging him up, and he met his abuser's eyes defiantly. And, remembering his mother's previous action, he spat in the bastard's face.

The man calmly wiped his face clean, saying, "Now, _that's_ where you are wrong, I'm afraid, and I can prove it to you." The big man seized Naruto from behind once more, holding the boy easily as he struggled. The Snake addressed the big brute. "Take him up to his parent's room and tie him to the bed. Put a gag on him, too. Don't want his screams to wake the neighborhood." He turned to his men. "As for us, we're going to have some fun, boys!" The men cheered. Naruto's eyes widened as he remembered what else they planned to do with him. His struggles increased, but he knew it was no use. With these men, it was never any use.

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TBC 


	2. Chapter 2

**Warnings**: attempted rape, psycho trucker, language, yaoi 

**Disclaimer**: Don't own. Probably for the best, too... ;P

I kinda almost didn't put this chapter up. I have a thing against writing about evil, psychotic people like the one in this chapter. Unfortunately, however, the idea wouldn't go away. T-T. Oh well. Hope you enjoy XD.

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Naruto jolted awake, gasping for breath. The nightmare had been just as bad as usual. One would think that after a month and a half, the memories would have at least dimmed, but his mother's mutilated body was as vivid to him as if she were laying there beside him. He calmed himself and glanced at his watch, sighing deeply. Still too early for _anyone _to be getting up, but he doubted he would be able to stand going back to sleep just then. He was never looking forward to sleep anymore. It always brought back those memories. 

Naruto shivered, pushing those thoughts away. He rose stiffly from the hard ground he had been sleeping on. He felt sore all over, but it wasn't as bad as the first few nights. Whatever money he had been able to scrounge up from the house had nearly run out four nights ago with the last cheap hotel he had stayed at, leaving only enough to feed him once each day. He took out his money to count what was left. Only a few dollars. Enough for a small snack, his last meal for a while. Or it _would_ be if he could just get out of the middle of nowhere.

He had known back then that just running wasn't likely to get him anywhere fast. So, ever since his last day at that hotel, he had been hitching rides, sometimes only going a few miles to the next gas station, sometimes going to the next town. It was dangerous, he knew, but he figured that it would be _much_ worse for him if he didn't go far away quickly.

So far, all those who stopped for his raised thumb were truly kind people. They would ask where he was going, and Naruto would always answer, "As far as you're willing to take me in that direction." He would then point in the opposite direction from where his home used to be.

However, he wasn't able enough to pay the ones that asked for payment. He didn't have the money, in some cases. In others, their idea of 'payment' was not something he was willing to give them, especially after that night six or so weeks ago...

He shook his head, pushing the memories back once more, but not quickly enough to stop a few tears from falling. Wiping them away viciously, he climbed over the small hill he had slept behind, looking about him at the desolate and dry land. Rocks and shrubs littered about the place in a random design. There was nothing for miles but the highway on which he now walked along. The sky was just beginning to grow light.

As tired and hungry as he was, Naruto kept up a good pace. He made it about two miles further when he first heard the truck. It grew steadily closer and Naruto stepped off the road, holding his thumb out. Once level with the boy, the truck ground to a halt. The man inside leaned over and opened the passenger door. Just as Naruto was about to lift himself up, he stopped. Something didn't feel right here.

Seeing the boy hesitate, the trucker smiled and said, "Well, come on in, boy. I ain't gonna bite. Honest!"

Pushing the feeling away, Naruto jumped in and smiled in return, but he remained suspicious. Something about this man was wrong. Naruto knew that he should probably have hopped back out right then and there, but again, he didn't feel that it would be the best option. Who knows what the man would do after that. Besides, there may not be another ride he could hitch for a while, and with his depleted supply of water, he didn't have that kind of time.

With nothing better to do, Naruto secretly inspected the man beside him. He was rugged looking, hard, but also seemed to be used to smiling a lot. He was big as well, obviously a drinker. The many empty cans and the open beer bottle in his lap said as much.

"So, where ya off to, boy?"

Naruto glanced over quickly and flashed a small, dry smile. "As far from where I was coming as possible, sir."

The man chuckled heartily. "Then that's how far we'll go."

There was something hidden beneath that statement. Warning bells rang in Naruto's mind, but he forced them to silence. He didn't want to start panicking and acting suspicious himself. But still, he began to think that maybe he really _should_ have taken his chances walking, despite the fact that the next car could be days away.

A beer can was opened and the man thrust it under Naruto's nose. Naruto felt like he would hurl from the awful smell of it.

"Here, boy," the man said. "Ya look like ya could use one."

Naruto's paranoia kicked in, yelling, '_He's trying to get you drunk, or maybe it's drugged. Don't drink, don't drink, don't drink..._' Naruto coughed delicately. "Umm, I'm sorry, sir. I don't drink." He glanced over quickly, hoping that he hadn't offended the man. But the guy only laughed a harsh, barking laugh.

"Ah, I shoulda known. Ya look too pure ta be drinkin', anywho. I've got a coke around here somewhere if ya prefer that instead." He began rummaging about the mess in his seat.

Naruto made a halting motion with his hands. "No, that's all right. I'm really not thirsty just now. But thank you."

A look crept over the man's features, but it passed too quickly for Naruto to figure out what it meant. The man smiled and again turned his eyes on the road. "Well, kiddo, just so's long as ya know that if ya _do_ be gettin' thirsty, I'll dig the coke up fer ya, kay?"

Naruto gave him a polite smile of thanks. An awkward silence resumed after that.

Naruto laid his head back and closed his eyes a moment. He felt himself slipping off to sleep, but jolted awake not long after as the nightmares assaulted him once more. He sighed, feeling exhausted from all this. The running, the sleepless nights, the lack of food and drink. He wished he could trust this man and have that coke, but he was still too suspicious. Apparently with good reason.

He was suddenly knocked out of his reveries as he became aware of the man's hand on his leg that was slowly making circular motions higher. Once realizing its presence, it had already reached the inside of his thigh. Naruto went still in fear, letting out a soft, strangled sound of protest. He couldn't stop staring at the hand, his fear paralyzing him. Then it reached up higher...

With a startled gasp, Naruto jumped away and tried to open the door. He was willing to jump out if it would just get him away from the man. Unfortunately, it was locked. Without an escape route, Naruto instead turned to face the man, trying hard to shove himself further into his corner, away from his abuser.

The man looked surprised. Apparently, he had thought Naruto was still asleep. Still, he took it all in stride. He smiled casually at the boy, acting as if the previous incident had not even happened. "Ya know, yer a very pretty boy."

Naruto at last found his voice again. "P-please," he stuttered. "Let me out."

The man looked incredulous, then suspicious. "I thought you wanted to get as far from here as possible." His expression turned dark. "You aren't going back on your word, now, are you?" Naruto wasn't sure what scared him more: the man's expression, the silent threat, or the fact that he was now speaking proper english. He struggled for an answer that wouldn't piss the man off more.

"W-well, no, but-"

"Good! I didn' think ya was a backstabbing little bitch like that. Yer too pretty an' innocent fer that, ain't ya, boy."

Naruto swallowed hard. This man was seriously _psycho_! The madman leaned over and brought his hand up again to touch Naruto's face. Out of nowhere, Naruto wondered why they hadn't crashed yet. The hand caressed him almost lovingly. It made Naruto cringe back in disgust.

The man was still smiling. "I'm glad ya ain't like that, boy, 'cause I feel as if we got some... _connection_ here. I don' know _what_ I'd a done if ya were really a little shit like that." The hand lowered to Naruto's neck, then his collarbone, the man's eyes following its every movement. Naruto couldn't help but tremble under the touches. "We met fer a reason, ya know? It was like... _fate_ or somethin'. Don't ya feel it, boy? It's so _clear_ ta me what we've gotta do." The hand graced over Naruto's chest, almost gently, the lust now evident in his eyes. "You seem so... fragile, so delicate." The man leaned over more, coming so close to Naruto that his intent was obvious. Naruto closed his eyes in hopeless fear, waiting for the kiss to connect. He felt helpless, like he had back then...

Suddenly, the truck swerved off the road and the man cursed. Naruto's eyes snapped open to see the man jump back into his seat and regain control of his truck. He stopped just in time to avoid crashing into a high wall of rocks. The highway was no longer in sight. For a moment, Naruto almost wished that they _had_ crashed.

As he turned off the truck, the man giggled childishly and hit the dashboard, saying in an excited tone, "Now, now, silly girl. That comes later!" He was acting as if he were some giddy child about to have its wish come true.

Unable to contain himself, Naruto had to know, "What do you mean, 'that comes later'?"

The man looked suspicious again. "You don't know?" Then some revelation seemed to dawn on him. "Ah! Of course ya wouldn't." A hand shot out to cup Naruto's face. Naruto flinched. "Yer too innocent, too pure." Naruto saw the lust once more in the man's eyes.

Suddenly, he was leaning over again, putting his other hand on Naruto's thigh, their faces a mere inch apart. Too frightened to move, he couldn't stop the kiss that followed. The hand on his thigh moved all over him, feeling, groping. A tongue forced its way into his mouth, overpowering him with its need. Naruto, unsurprisingly, found himself remembering the pain from before. He knew that he wouldn't be able to take another night like that again. Instead of just giving up, he forced his limbs to move, to start fighting back. He slapped the offending hand off his leg and turned his head from the dominating kiss. The man moved back a bit, and Naruto caught a murderous gleam in his expression.

"What, boy? You think you're too good for me or something?" He reached into his pocket.

Naruto looked surprised, trying to speak past his fear as he shook his head 'no'. In all honesty, he really didn't feel like he could ever be 'too good' for _anyone_ just now. As the hand dug deeper into the pocket, Naruto wondered if the man was going to kill him now.

Then the tension eased as if the man had just realized something. "Oh, right! I still haven't answered ya. Is that it, boy?" Again the hand reached out to cup Naruto's face. Naruto nodded to his question, figuring that it would be best to accept the path to further life that the man had unwittingly given him. "Oh, you coy little thing, you!" Again the childish excitement. After one last small kiss on Naruto's cheek, the man leaned back and pulled a knife from his pocket.

"Well, ya see, there ain't nothin' here on this world that is worth livin' fer, ya know? I thought a long time ago that it would be best to just... end it all! The only problem was, I didn' wanna go it alone. I've been searchin' 'bout fer that perfect someone ta take the dive with me." He looked at Naruto. "Someone like you." He shifted in his seat, and Naruto had a bad feeling about where this conversation was going. "Ya see, I look at you and I think to myself, 'I think I love this kid. This kid knows what it's all about. He understands me.' You do, don't you?" The gaze turned piercing, watching Naruto's every move. Naruto, in turn, believed it would be best to just nod and continue to figure out a way to get the hell away from this guy. Besides, he didn't think that anything he felt like saying just then would help matters much. The man continued. "So, when you said that you wanted me- _me_- to take you far from this place, I knew that we were meant to die together. The only thing left fer us to be doin' now is to become not only connected mentally, as we are now, but connected _physically_. I love you, and I know- I just _know_- that you feel the same."

Naruto choked, incredulous. He was about ready to pounce on the guy. How dare he assume such things! What _connection_? There was no connection that Naruto was finding between himself and this psycho. The stress was becoming too much for him. It was painfully obvious that the man meant to rape him then kill them both in his sick, twisted idea of 'being together'. Naruto wondered just how the hell he is able to attract such perverted people. Either way, he couldn't take it. He refused suddenly to let his fear rule over him this time, instead accepting the anger and rage at the thought of being used once again. The knife went back into the pocket. Naruto's eyes followed it, a plan forming in his mind. "But like I said, death comes later. Now, we must-"

Naruto lunged forward, but not for the weapon. Not yet. It would be too obvious. Instead, he swallowed down his revolt and latched onto the man, forcing himself to kiss the bastard. His anger-induced passion was mistaken by the man as a kiss of lust and love, as Naruto knew he would take it. The bastard was surprised a moment before he returned Naruto's kiss, pushing Naruto back onto the seat, effectively falling into Naruto's trap. Intent on removing Naruto's clothes, the man became lost in the heat soon enough, and Naruto found the opportunity to slowly reach into the man's pocket, extracting the knife with such ease that he was almost surprised that the man hadn't noticed. But now that he had the knife, Naruto paused, uncertain. His anger faded. Just what was it that he had planned on doing? Killing the man? Was he even capable of killing _anyone_?

Naruto's hesitation wasn't lost on the man, however. He pulled back and saw the knife, unfortunately for Naruto. Without further thought and only the fear of being raped again fueling him, Naruto plunged the knife into the man's chest, passing his ribs to pierce into his heart. Naruto caught a glimpse of confused hurt in the man's eyes at Naruto's betrayal before they faded to lifelessness. The man fell back, blood soaking the front of his shirt.

Naruto couldn't get up, couldn't move. He would have hurled just then if he had had anything to throw up. Once again, he had committed murder. He knew with a deep certainty that he would never be able to forget the man's hurt expression before he had died. Naruto cried a bit, knowing that he had tricked the man, had made him hopeful, before tearing his world apart. The fact that Naruto had only been trying to defend himself was only a small consolation, because the even more brutal fact still remained. He had murdered someone yet again.

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TBC- next chapter, high school finally starts. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Warnings**(for this chapter): language, some sexual harrassment, but nothing happens...yet. (Wow, that sounds a bit ominous... ;P) 

**Disclaimer**: Still don't own. 

Also, I want to thank all my reviewers so far. I enjoy reading what people think of my story. It certainly makes my day, so thanks much :)!

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The alarm clock blared beside the bed. Turning over, Naruto slammed down on its offending din. He yawned, tired as always, but at least he had been too exhausted last night to have the reoccurring nightmares again. But even so, he had still only achieved a couple hours of sleep. He looked about the apartment, wondering why he had an alarm clock going off in the first place. Then one word appeared in his mind. School. 

Naruto bolted upright and ran to get dressed, realizing that he was late. He had been living here for a couple weeks now. After the hitchhiker psycho, nothing else went wrong. A car had come a few miles away from the site, the elderly couple inside agreeing to take him to the next major city with them. Also, out of extreme kindness on their part, they had given him some snacks, feeling that he was much too skinny and needed the food. Naruto thanked them greatly before departing to make his own way around the city. 

He had already been aware that once in the city, getting a job was first priority. He knew that he wouldn't survive long here if he didn't have any money. He walked about the city, randomly entering stores that looked like they might hire him. However, due to his shabby appearance and young age, none would accept him. Finally, he found a newly opened bar that was desperate. He figured that, since the sun was already going down and he didn't see any other stores open now, he might as well try it. Luckily, they _did_ hire him, as the busboy. So Naruto worked that first day in order to get some money. It wasn't much, but it was enough to buy himself some food and, after the first week, a few new outfits. At the time, he had been sleeping outside in an alley close by, but he found that to be a bad idea when a couple of drunkards stumbled over him. They seemed about ready to kill him, but he took their fallen state as an invitation to get the hell out of there. He realized then that he should probably get a place to stay. 

Going down a few streets, he had found a cheap enough place to stay at. When he had knocked on the door, a large and hideous woman had slammed it open, screaming out, "Who the fuck is knocking so late? Show yourself!" Naruto cleared his throat cautiously, feeling very small beside her. She looked down and finally spotted him. "Well, boy? Whaddaya want?" 

Naruto stammered out, "U-umm, I was just hoping that you m-might have a place for me to stay... for a while..." As he was speaking, she had leaned down, taking in all his features. Apparently pleased with something, she stepped aside and told him to come inside. 

Leading him up the stairs, she said in a deep, husky voice, "Rooms are $459 a month, not including water and electricity. If you want those, you pay $700 a month." 

Naruto asked, "Is it all right if I just have water for a shower? It's not really necessary for me to have electricity or heat or anything at the moment." Especially since he didn't make nearly enough money to pay 700 a month. 

She smiled. "Sure thing, sugar. For you, I'll even give you a free shower every day without any extra cost. Of course, you would have to use mine, but I don't mind." She looked him up and down suggestively. Naruto blushed. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before answering her with a nod and said, "All right. I can accept that." She raised an eyebrow at that. Her smile was broad now. Naruto wondered what he had just gotten himself into... again. But he figured that as long as his water was now free, then that was one less stress on him. Also he could now be sure that he wouldn't die of dehydration, since he could just drink the water from there. Whatever her suggestive looks entailed, he figured that they must be working for the best for the moment... at least until she decided to act on them. 

Upon reaching his new room, Naruto thanked her and entered, although not before she had a chance to slap his backside. Naruto yelped and jumped away as she laughed and shut the door. He was blushing again, thinking now that maybe it _wasn't_ such a good idea to accept anything free from this woman. 

Naruto sighed as he walked down the street towards his new school. Such had been his last two weeks. He worked late hours only to have to put up with a large and overly amorous woman when he returned home. He was almost grateful when she had asked him if he was planning on going to school. After all that had happened, he had completely forgotten about that. Luckily for him, though, there was a school that was only two miles away, and he was able to bribe the landlady into acting as his 'mother' for $20. It was a perfect place to get away from all _that_ stress... and possibly receive a whole bunch more. But he was just happy to be away from his harsh boss and particularly vulgar landlady. Speaking of which, he realized that the school was now in sight, and he had, surprisingly enough, made it early. 

Entering the building, Naruto began looking for the main office, figuring that it would be somewhere near the entrance like it was in his last school. Fortunately, it was. He walked in, closing the door behind him, and made his way to a strict looking woman at the closest desk. She looked up at him over her small glasses, pursing her lips as she inspected him. 

"You must be a new student," she snapped out. She shuffled through a few papers on her desk. "Uzumaki Naruto, I presume?" 

Naruto nodded, feeling slightly intimidated. 

She handed him a few of her many papers. "Here is you schedule and a map of the school. Also, here is a booklet to help you understand our rules and what we expect from each of our students here. Welcome to your new school, Mr. Uzumaki. Now if you don't mind, I have work to do." With that, she returned her attention to the papers once more, dismissing Naruto completely. 

He left the office quickly, not really wanting to get in trouble on his first day. Taking out the map, he searched for his homeroom, finding it quickly enough. 

Upon reaching the correct room, he entered and was surprised to find no one there. He was sure this was it. It was the correct room... right? He checked again, just to make sure. Still he found it was right. But where was everyone? Naruto sighed and thought to himself 'I'm too tired for this'. Instead, he figured that the ones talking outside the room were probably waiting until the last moment to come in. So he went to the back of the room and into the corner chair. The tables were long, able to fit about twelve students per each one, and there were three of them. He figured that this must be one really big school. 

Once reaching the back seat, he sat down exhaustedly and put his head down. It was still a while before he had to worry about school starting. Of course, no sooner had he closed his eyes then a few others entered the room. Naruto didn't even bother opening his eyes. 

Catching sight of some new kid in the back, the students immediately made their way to stand beside him. 

The leader of the group placed his hands on the table and leaned over Naruto. "Hey there, new kid. I'm the most popular guy in this school, Itachi. I advise you to pay the proper respects. You can call it 'me being generous' because now you know who not to mess with. Do you understand me, Newbie?" 

Not really in the mood for company at the moment, Naruto lifted his head and glared at them. Why wouldn't anyone let him sleep anymore? 

Itachi's eyes widened, thinking to himself, _Holy shit, this new kid is **hot**_. Hearing a sharp intake behind him, he knew that his lackeys were thinking the same. He quickly decided to change tactics, saying, "Although, maybe there can be some exception in this case, hmm?" With that, Itachi pulled out a chair next to Naruto and sat down. 

Naruto, in a particularly bitchy mood, said bluntly, "What the _hell_ are you talking about?" 

Itachi looked taken aback, but recovered quickly enough. "I mean that me and my buddies would like you to be our friend." The others leered at Naruto, one even going so far as to lick his lips. Naruto got the impression that being 'friends' was far from what this conversation was about. He straightened, ready to bolt. He suddenly felt very much awake. 

Itachi missed the change in Naruto, his eyes instead roaming about Naruto's body. "You see, we are in need of one such as yourself to join our little group. We do so love to gain new recruits to our little gang." 

Naruto swallowed hard, feeling like he was in an extremely bad situation with these guys. His mouth suddenly went dry, and he found that he could only say, "U-umm..." 

"Of course," Itachi continued over him. "There is an... initiation process." He slid a hand down and onto Naruto's leg suggestively. In a wild panic, Naruto jumped off his seat as if he had been burned, pushing past the others too quickly for them to stop him. He stuttered out, "I-I'm s-sorry, b-but I need to g-go... somewhere!" He ran from the room and out into the halls, leaving behind a surprised and aggravated Itachi. 

Naruto walked speedily through the halls, not caring where he went just so long as he was far from that guy and his gang. Once he thought he was a safe enough distance away, he slowed, only now deciding to take in his surroundings. Naturally, he had no idea where he was. He searched himself for the map before he finally realized that he had forgotten it in the classroom... along with his schedule, which was even worse, now that he thought about it. They probably saw it and memorized his classes. He smacked himself on the head. _Well, **this** day just keeps getting better and better!_. And this whole school thing was supposed to _help_ his stress problem! 

Sighing to himself, he figured that there was nothing he could do now except just try and find his way back. Putting his hands in his pocket and keeping his head down, Naruto began trying to backtrack... unsuccessfully, of course. 

Unfortunately for him, nothing was apparently going to go right today. No sooner had he taken two steps then he bumped into a large and smirking student. A student that had 'bully' written all over him. Naruto had time to think, _Why me?_ before the guy slammed him up against a locker and pressed his face close to Naruto's. 

"Well, lookie what we've got here. A new kid!" A few of his fellow goons laughed behind him, acting as if it had been the joke of the century. Naruto rolled his eyes and cursed his luck, or rather its absence. Unfortunately, the bully saw this. 

"Oh what, kid? You find something funny?" 

"Well, judging by how close the two of you are, he _did_ get a good look at your face..." The voice came from behind the bully, sounding cocky and overly sure of herself. The bully went pale and turned to look right into the face of a tall, pink haired woman. Her arms were crossed and she gave the guy a look that said, 'Back away now and I _might_ let you live another day.' 

He immediately put Naruto down, inching away from her. Once far enough, he turned tail and ran with his gooons close behind, leaving the girl and a cautious Naruto alone in the hall. Who could this person be that would inspire that kind of fear in a person? Naruto wondered if he was in a better or worse situation than before. He hoped it was better, though. He had had enough of the 'worse' already to last him a dozen lifetimes. 

The girl looked at him kindly, but Naruto remained suspicious. He believed by now that he really couldn't put his guard down until he was absolutely sure she wasn't going to hurt him. 

"The name's Sakura. I saw you run from our homeroom and thought I'd follow, just in case bastards like Polan there decided to pounce. You seriously look like you're in need of a friend right about now, so why don't you join me and my group?" 

Naruto blinked at her blunt statement. "Umm..." He seemed to be saying that a lot these days... 

Sakura grabbed his hand, not bothering to wait for his reply. She dragged him down seemingly random hallways before finally ending up outside their homeroom. The halls were empty, signaling that it was almost time for homeroom to start. Once inside, she proceeded to drag him all the way to the back table which was now occupied by nine others. They all looked up as she brought Naruto before them. Needless to say, Naruto felt extremely uncomfortable under all their eyes. He began to tremble slightly and cast his eyes downward. As much as he would love to have friends, did he really deserve them? He _was_ a murderer, after all... 

One of them, a dark, wild haired man in the farthest seat, spoke up. "Run into any trouble?" His voice was deep, strong. 

"Just Polan. Nothing big. Anyway, this is... wait. What's your name?" She turned a questioning eye to Naruto. He replied shakily, "Naruto," before trying to sink back into himself. 

"Right! Naruto. His name's Naruto." She smiled warmly at him before she began introducing everyone else. "This," she pointed to a small, black haired boy, "is Haku. Be cautious- he might just find you attractive." 

The boy quipped in cheerfully, "Personally, I prefer the big muscular type with a decidedly chivalrous nature, although the 'big' part doesn't necessarily have to describe his whole body, per say- just the important parts." He winked at Naruto, causing the other to blush a bit. 

"Too much information," the dark haired one from before put in. Two others, twins, laughed. 

Haku smiled and stuck his tongue out at them. "Sakura-chan started it." 

"Anyway," Sakura cut in, "This is Hinata." She pointed out the skinny dark haired one with pale eyes that sat across from Haku. "She would be the shy, delicate little flower of our group." Hinata blushed at the compliment. "And next would be the delinquent duo." 

The twins both flashed smiles and waved energetically at him. They were like exact copies, both with short, gray hair and dark eyes. They were lithe and well toned. Together, they said, "Hiya!" 

"One of them is Sakon and one is Ukon, but don't bother trying to tell them apart. It's impossible, especially since they try their best to act the exact same. You'll understand soon enough. So, instead of just trying to talk to them separately since it doesn't work, we call them both by one name: Usakon, Kon for short. Across from them is our lovable couple, Shikamaru and Temari." 

"Yo," Shikamaru, a slim man with pitch black hair tied up, said. 

Temari just nodded politely. She had blond hair and dark green eyes (A/N I think...) The couple smiled lovingly at each other and started kissing. 

"...Moving on. Ino is the one sitting next to Kon. We call her Ino or just 'The Bitch' for short." Ino glared. The dark haired guy and the twins tried to hide their chuckling while the red haired guy on the end of the table snickered. "And across from her is the also lovable Sasuke." 

"Yo." He waved once. 

"The last of our lovely group would be Gaara, Temari's younger brother." She pointed at last to the pale, red haired boy at the end who had a kind of... malevolent look in his green eyes. "Don't stare too much. He hates it when people stare." 

"As a matter of fact," Haku interjected, "Try not to do _anything_ to piss him off. The consequences tend to end up with the loss of one or two _very_ important limbs." 

Shikamaru looked up from Temari. "I've heard the screams when he got pissed once." His face paled. "It was horrible. No man should have to lose that." 

Gaara sniffed derisively. "It was his own damn fault for cheating on my sister." He took out a switchblade from nowhere and stared at Shikamaru. "You shouldn't be scared. You didn't cheat on Temari or anything and you never will... right?" Gaara's eyes gleamed at him. 

Shikamaru yelped and jumped behind Temari. "Hide me! He's got that look in his eyes again!" Temari rolled her eyes and proceeded to try and soothe him. Sasuke just slapped him on the back before saying, "Suck it up, man. You know he won't hurt you." 

Shikamaru shot up and glared at him in self-defense. "Well, yeah, but you try looking into those eyes and tell me you don't see the bloodlust there!" 

Everyone laughed. Naruto, on the other hand, was as confused as ever. Sakura, seeing this, said, "Don't worry, kid. They're all just joking around. Gaara, though sometimes a nasty avenger, doesn't touch his friends." With that, she steered him over to the empty seats at the end. 

As they passed Haku, the boy smiled and held out a bag, saying, "By the way, I believe this is yours." Naruto took it and smiled wanly in thanks, still not sure about this whole friend thing yet, but he figured that he might as well just roll with it. Who knows where it would bring him.

* * *

TBC- Unfortunately, I am still trying to figure out some of the next chapter, but I will post it up as soon as I'm done. 

By the way, for anyone who was confused, the seating arrangement kinda looks like this: 

Sakura   
Naruto---Gaara   
Sasuke---Ino   
Shika---Sakon   
Temari---Ukon   
Haku---Hinata   



	4. Chapter 4

**Warnings**: language, some hints of yaoi 

**Disclaimer**: Don't own.

Sorry for the wait. Unfortunately, the chapters from here on out are going to be a bit longer to make. The three before this one were already made, and I was too impatient to actually write the whole story before posting it. I know (more or less) where I'm going with this. It's just the 'getting there' that I need to figure out. I'll post them as soon as I can, though. Also, I think I'll try to give you updates on my homepage to show you how far I've gotten with the next chapter and when I am going to be delayed or something. I should be able to write short little notes there so you know that I haven't stopped writing or anything. I DO in fact plan on finishing this, though, for anyone who may be wondering that. Sooo... yeah. kk :P. Here ya go:

* * *

_So far, so good_, Naruto thought to himself as he left his fourth period class. Or rather, was _dragged_ from it. 

First period had gone pretty well. Haku was there. They sat together in the back. Haku decided that it was a perfect time to start pointing out all the guys in the class he thought were hot. Near the end of class, Naruto was bright red and trying to hide behind his desk, only to have Haku tell him that he had only pointed those guys out because he thought it was fun to make Naruto blush.

Second period had an odd combination of his new-found friends: Ino, Hinata, and Gaara. Ino took it upon herself to drag both Naruto and Hinata to three empty seats in front, much to Naruto's and Hinata's discomfort. Both would have rather been in the back with Gaara, away from the eyes of their classmates. In Hinata's case, Naruto could tell that she was just incredibly shy. Naruto, however, kept feeling like the students behind him were jugding him or something. It was uncomfortable. He tried to pass this feeling off as paranoia, but it refused to be silenced so easily. The teacher soon came in with a hangover and told the class it was a free period for the day. Ino immediately went into full conversation mode with the ever quiet Hinata, talking about the most random of things. After the first ten minutes, Naruto wasn't sure how much longer he could take it. Gaara's smug look at being too far away to hear anything she was saying wasn't helping either.

Third period is what Naruto called his 'break from insanity' period. In other words, it was just a normal class with none of his friends there. It was also, he found out near the end, his most _boring_ class now that there wasn't anyone to take his mind off of the teacher's droning voice. Apparently, he couldn't win. With his friends, life was chaotic; without them, life was boring as hell.

Fourth period proved an... interesting class. Both Haku and 'Kon' were there, and the teacher turned out to be a laid back guy named Kakashi who had a lesson plan that could easily have been made from Hell itself. It was at _least_ three times the necessary requirements for their grade. Objections, of course, were raised... only to land on deaf ears as Kakashi opened up a small book and lost himself in it, leaving the class to read five chapters in their large textbooks and pass in a summary of each by the end of class. The twins then made it their mission to somehow steal the book that the teacher now held before the week was up.

Which leads up to the present, with Naruto currently in the middle of being dragged outside for lunch by Sakon and Ukon with Haku following close behind. The rest of his friends sat around a picnic table nearby, seated in the same way as homeroom, all happily content and eating as if this arrangement was natural. The only one missing, however, was Ino. Kon shoved Naruto kindly into her seat as the others at the table greeted them. Naruto squirmed a bit, uncomfortable and feeling awkwardly like he was invading Ino's place at this table. Sasuke, noticing and quickly understanding Naruto's hesitation, said amiably, "Don't worry about Ino. She never sits with us at lunch."

"Yeah," put in Temari. "She prefers to sit with the 'popular' kids inside."

"Haven't you broken her of that habit yet?" Haku piped up beside her. "You know it's dangerous for her to be around so many high-pitched and whining voices for so long. It may cause damage to her brain, such as: drastically lowering her IQ, becoming disillusioned into thinking that she is more superior than anyone else, turning her into a mindless zombie, its only mission in life being to acquire any and all 'fashionable' items, and then there's the tendency to match said high-pitched whinny voices, therefore causing harm to _us_ and starting an unstoppable chain-reaction which will result ultimately in the end of the world as we know it as everyone becomes just like her and are therefore trapped under the power of such arrogant stupidity that totally obliterates all common sense-"

Shikamaru cleared his throat, effectively halting Haku's... descriptive explanation of what _he_ thought would eventually happen should Ino continue her path towards 'the dark side'. Sakura said, "... What?" Naruto blinked. After hearing Sakura's confusion, he was at least glad that he wasn't the only one who couldn't quite follow Haku's speech.

Temari stared at him. "... Haku, have you been taking drugs?" She looked completely serious, but Kon finally couldn't contain his laughter. The twins broke out and hunched over the table, holding their abdomens and tearing at the eyes. Haku's innocent and cheerful reply of, "Nope!" only made them laugh harder.

Sasuke snorted. "It must be all those horror movies he's been watching lately." Haku just smiled innocently at him.

Temari shook her head and grinned, amused. Instead of pursuing the subject, she answered Haku's previous question. "No, I haven't been able to 'break her of that habit', though I damn well tried hard."

Sakura seemed to look sad for a moment. "We're going to loose her to them, aren't we."

The others looked a bit more solemn now, even Kon. Again, Naruto felt awkward and out of place. This was apparently a touchy and personal subject. He felt like he should leave and let them be alone a while...

Sakura suddenly jolted out of her thoughts as she remembered Naruto. "Well," She said, smiling a bit, "at least we've got a new friend." The others smiled at him kindly, like they had already accepted him. Naruto relaxed a bit. They still wanted him here. He smiled slightly back at them, a bit shy.

At this time, Sakura seemed to remember something else. "Hey, Naruto, where's your lunch?"

Naruto blushed as his stomach gave a loud grumble. "U-ummmm..." He was being particularly intelligent today, wasn't he? He had completely forgotten to bring some lunch or money for lunch. How was he supposed to tell them that, though? They would think he was an idiot!

"Let me guess," she continued, unaware of his inner turmoil. "Haku and Kon took you straight out here and didn't even bother to show you where the lunch room was." Kon and Haku gave her a sheepish look, mumbling apologies. Sakura sighed. "Well, here. I'll go take you there, 'k?"

Without waiting for him to say anything, she got up and dragged him with her back inside, going down a few hallways before they entered the large cafeteria. The line for the food was nearly empty now that lunch was halfway over. Sakura quickly led him towards it. Naruto began to frantically search for some excuse to make her let him go without raising any suspicions in her about how he had been too stupid to remember lunch.

Luckily for him, however, Sakura seemed to have a brilliant idea. She snapped her fingers and whirled to face him, nearly making him fall back in surprise at her sudden movement. "How about I buy you lunch today? It could be in celebration of your first day as our new friend! Is that all right?" Naruto gaped at her, wondering where his luck had been hiding all this time. She didn't even wait for him to answer before asking him what he wanted.

"R-ramen," he was able to stutter out.

"That's it?" She smiled. "All right." The lunch ladies heated up a cup and handed it over to them. True to her word, Sakura payed and they left the line.

Unfortunately, all good things can't last forever. As the two headed for the door, a loud, high-pitched voice was suddenly heard from the popular table in the middle of the cafeteria. It came from beside the one Naruto recognized as Ino, the voice saying scathingly to Sakura, "Well, looky here! It seems the slut with the big forehead found yet another guy to fuck! Let me guess, is he your 5th or 50th?"

Naruto choked, not sure how to respond to that. Sakura turned slightly to Ino, who kept her head down, acting as if Sakura was in no way any friend of hers. Sakura looked sad for a moment, but the look passed quickly, replaced by anger as she simply gave the girl the middle finger, not even bothering to comment. The girl sputtered and seemed ready to jump out of her seat and pounce on Sakura. Some others there tried to soothe the furious girl and told her that a pathetic thing like Sakura wasn't worth breaking a nail over.

Ino glanced up then. For a moment, a look was passed between her and Sakura, and Naruto wondered what it could mean. But soon, Ino lowered her eyes and continued eating and chatting with her new 'friends'. Sakura stared for a second, emotionless, then turned back to the door and left quickly, Naruto struggling to keep up. One glance back and he saw Ino look up one last time at Sakura's retreating back.

Naruot ran to catch up to Sakura. Though he couldn't see any emotion on her face, he could tell that something was bothering her. A lot. Naruto didn't enjoy watching his friends be hurt like that. He decided to try and talk to her, to try and help. "Sa-Sakura?"

Sakura paused a moment, but still didn't look at him. She sighed, seeming tired all of a sudden. "Ino. That pig. She didn't even try to stand up for me." She turned to Naruto. "I guess we really are losing her."

Naruto looked at her worriedly. "Are you all right?"

She sighed again and continued walking. "Yeah. I'll be fine. It's just that, well, me and Ino have been best friends for a long time now. To lose something like that... I suppose there's no helping it. This is the path that she chose. I can't force her to keep being my friend, but I still wish to be here for her should she choose to come back to us. I guess that's all I can do." She smiled a bit. "But that's all right. I'll get over this."

Naruto blinked. Sakura was a strong person. Naruto hoped she really _would_ be all right.

They made it safely back outside without any further interruptions. The others noticed that Sakura was feeling a bit down, but seemed to realize that she was dealing with it herself. They continued instead with whatever they had been talking about. Naruto took his seat quietly and dug into his ramen. He was hungry and ramen was his favorite. Sasuke watched the blond practically swallow the cup before getting a mischievous idea.

"So," Sasuke said once he was sure Naruto could talk again. "You like ramen a lot?"

Naruto smiled widely and nodded. "It's my favorite!"

Sasuke was curious, wondering where Naruto's shy attitude had gone. He decided to poke fun at Naruto and figure out what this ramen meant to him. Sasuke sighed and said, "Well, that's too bad. I hate ramen. I hate even looking at it." He secreted a glance at Naruto and almost laughed when he saw the boy freeze with a pile of noodles still in his mouth. But he quickly composed himself. "If you're going to sit here with us, you're going to have to give up ramen, I'm afraid." He looked back at Naruto. The poor boy seemed terrified at the thought of giving up his ramen. Then, surprisingly enough, he got angry.

"Why?! If you don't like it you can look away! I'm not going to stop eating ramen just because you don't like looking at it!" Everyone stopped and stared at him, but Naruto didn't seem to realize this. He also didn't seem to realize that they were all trying to hold back laughter, knowing that Sasuke was just playing around.

Sasuke considered laughing right there as well and telling Naruto that he was only joking, but he was having too much fun with this. "That's too bad, dobe. I refuse to let you eat that in front of me anymore. Throw it away, now."

Naruto bristled. "No!" He was horrified at the idea of throwing away perfectly good ramen. Besides, he'd be damned if he let the bastard order him around.

"I said throw it away!" Sasuke stood up and crossed his arms, looking down at Naruto (and having the time of his life.)

Not to be outdone, Naruto jumped onto the table and crouched before Sasuke, eye to eye. "Make me, teme!"

They continued to glare at each other for a moment. Suddenly, Naruto felt a hand on his back gently shove him forward. Loosing balance, Naruto let a look of surprise cross his features before he fell forward on Sasuke. And then their lips met. They froze and stared at each other. One second before they both jumped away, horrified. Naruto spat out onto the ground, blushing like crazy. Sasuke wiped his mouth quickly before spotting a hastily retreating Kon. Realization hit him.

"Kon! You pushed him into me!"

The twins beamed back at him. "Sorry, mate." "We couldn't resist." "The temptation was overpowering-" "I mean, he was _right there_." "Couldn't help it-" "But it worked out a lot better than expected." "That it did, brother, that it did." (A/N For those I have confused: this is how the twins talk- they alternate talking, one saying something, the other continueing, etc. If you are still confused, please tell me and I will try to explain better)

Sasuke, pissed, ran straight for them. Kon yelped and began a mad dash for the school in the hopes of finding a teacher that would save them from Sasuke's revenge.

The others laughed. Even Gaara smiled a bit. Haku came around and patted a choking Naruto on the back. "Nicely done!" He said. "With the help of Kon, you just kissed the hottest boy in school." Naruto blushed more and tried to talk, but was too numb. Haku laughed again. "Don't worry. We know it wasn't your fault. Also, we won't tell anyone, so you don't have to worry about rumors and gossip and all that shit."

"Yeah," Sakura said. "You're a friend. Even though that was the funniest thing to happen yet in my life, we won't stab you in the back like that."

"But that doesn't mean we can't tease you about." Temari said. Naruto groaned.

"If it makes you feel any better," Haku put in, "Sasuke is no exception either."

Naruto rolled his eyes and said, "It would make me feel better if you _never mentioned this again_!"

"Well, now, you see," Shikamaru said with a lazy grin. "There would be no fun in that, and therefore, it's too troublesome. I suggest you suck it up because this is what friends do and what we'll always do. It is a friend's right to tease the others mercilessly for their own amusement."

Naruto groaned again and could swear he felt a headache coming on. Then a small voice piped in from his left. "Naruto, if we do something humiliating, you also have the right to tease us about it, too."

Shikamaru sighed. "Hinata! Why'd you have to go and spill a secret like that?"

Hinata blushed and looked down. Gaara answered for her. "It's called 'evening the odds', Shika. I suggest you suck it up."

Shikamaru laughed. "I think he just bitch-slapped me with that one."

Not long after, the bell rang. The friends all left that day, each in high spirits. Including Naruto. Perhaps friends _were_ what he needed now.

* * *

TBC 


End file.
